'Ruby' Tuesday

From a packaging standpoint, ABC Family's "Ruby & The Rockits" (8:30 tonight) is brilliant.

Take a star teens remember from when they were younger (Alexa Vega from the "Spy Kids" movies) and pair her with a star their parents -- moms, especially -- remember (David Cassidy, "The Partidge Family").

As for the show itself, well, it's not as remarkable as the shrewd formula used in its creation. Vega stars as Ruby, who catches up with the father she's never known, 1980s rock star David Gallagher (Cassidy), a vain, egotistical has-been. David and his brother Patrick (Patrick Cassidy, David's real-life brother) rarely speak to one another. Patrick now runs an auto dealership but he still misses his rock lifestyle enough to force his own kids to watch his old music videos.

Eventually Ruby ends up living with Patrick and family, which includes a rocker wannabe teen son (Austin Butler), who thinks Ruby is hot, necessitating an incest joke from his little brother (Kurt Doss).

The show is entertaining enough -- moreso than the often insipid Disney Channel sitcoms, but not as funny as a mediocre broadcast network sitcom. Pretty much what you'd expect, although following, as it does, the far smarter and more sophisticated "10 Things I Hate About You," "Ruby" is bound to disappoint more disciminating ABC Family viewers. Others will enjoy the show and Vega's singing, which is pretty good on a tune at the end of tonight's premiere.